Electric switch



C. L. WHITE.

ELECTRIC SWITQH APPLICATION man APR. 17, 14918,.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

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' l lul WITNESSES ATTO R N EY CLIFFORD L. WHITE, OF STOCKDALE, OHIO.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

Application filed April 17, 1918. Serial No. 229,119.

1 b all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, CLIrroRD L. Wnrrn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Stockdale, in the county of Pike and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Switches, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention is an electric switch of the double throw two pole type,and is more particularly adapted for the control of electric circuitswherein it is desired to alternately connect a source of electric energywith separate current consuming devices or for the control of branchcircuits connectible with a main circuit.

One object of the invention is to provide a switch wherein the changingfrom one c1rcuit to another is accomplished by a slight rotation of theswitch arms.

Another object of the invention is to provide a switch having spacedswitch contacts connected with the terminals of independent branchcircuits and providing a switch arm to rotatably and slidablyalternately connect the main circuits with the branch circuits.

Still another object of the invention 1s to provide a switch havingradially extending switch arms carrying spaced contacts that are adaptedto cooperate with spaced contacts connected with the terminals of themain and branch circuits.

Broadly stated,the invention comprlses a base formed of insulatingmaterial and having a plurality of spaced contact polnts adapted to beconnected with the terminals of branch circuits, a plurality of spacedcontacts formed as segmental plates adapted to be connected with theterminals of a main circuit, a rotatable member having thereon aninsulated knob serving as a handle, a plurality of radially extendingarms carried by the member, and having spaced contacts thereon adaptedto engage with the contact plates, and alternately with the spacedcontact points, and means for detachably and rotatably maintaining ther0- tatable member on the base.

One practical form of construction and assembly with a modification,will be de scribed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure l is a top plan view of the as sembled switch with theseveral circuits shown diagrammatically,

Fig. 2 is a view on the line 22 of Fig. 1,

F 1g. 3, is a bottom plan view of the rotatable member, having twoswitch arms, and

Fig. at is a bottom plan view showing a rotatable member having fourswitch arms.

In the preferred embodiment about to be described, there is provided abase 5 that may be formed of any usual or suitable insulating materialsuch as porcelain or hard rubber. The upper surface 6 of the base 5 spreferably plain while the under surface is provided with a recess 7. Asshown in Fig. 2 this will provide adjacent the ed es and ends of thebase 5 supporting feet which may be indicated at 8.

These feet 8 are preferably formed as a flange that will extend aroundthe perimeter of the recess '7. As shown, the base 5 is rectangular butit may be of any usual shape that is best adapted to serve its purpose.Centrally of the base 5 there is a hole 9 that extends clear through.The bolt A having a head 10 and a threaded section 11 is adapted to bepassed through this hole 9. Mounted upon this bolt is a knob 12preferably formed of insulating material and provided centrally with ahole 13 through which the bolt A passes.

As shown, in Fig. 2, the knob 12 provides for manually grasping and isprovided with a curved port-ion that extends laterally from thecylindrical portion forming the upper portion of the knob. The curvedportion is divided in its lateral face with recesses indicated at 14 and15. Adapted to be seated in the recesses 14: and 15 there are the twoarms indicated at B and C.

Each one of these arms is preferably formed of a single piece ofmaterial that is bent upon itself intermediate its ends so that itsmajor portions lie in contact with each other. The free ends of the armB are curved outwardly and downwardly as indicated at 16 and 17 and areadapted to form contacts. The curved portions 16 and 17 are spaced fromeach other as indicated in Fig. 2. The arm C is similarly formed of asingle piece of material bent upon itself and at the point where it isbent it is mounted in the recess 15.

The major portions of this arm as it is folded lie in contact with eachother and their outer ends are curved as indicated at 18 and 1 to formcontacts similar to that indicated at 16 and 17. The extreme ends of thecontacts 16, 17, 18, and 19 lie relatively in the same horizontal plane.The arms B and C may be formed of any suit able material that will havesufiicient resiliency to avoid the use of auxiliary resilient members orsprings in order to have them make the proper contact.

To hold the ends of the arms 13 and G in their recesses 1 1 and 15 aninsulating block 20 is employed, that also is provided with a hole forreceiving the bolt A. In one lateral face of thisspacing block 20 thereis formed a, recess that is concentric with the hole therethrough andserves to accommodate a nut 21. This nut 21. is adapted to engage with.the. threadedsection 11 of the bolt A. As shown this spacing block 20serves to permit the knob 12 to be rotated and carry the arms B- and C.

, The knob 12' and spacing block 20 are adapted to be assembled on thebolt A and the threaded portion 11 of the bolt passes through the hole 9and receives a nut 22 which clamps the, base 5 between it and the nut21. Thus the bolt may be rigidly held and the, bearing block 20 willserve to permit the. knob 12 and its arms to freely rotate.

The amount of friction may be determined by screwing the bolt A in andout. The finer adjustments of the bolt Amay be produced by ascrew-driver insertible in the slot 23 formed in the head 10. Tocooperate with the curved portion 16 there is providedthe spaced contactpoints indicated at 2% and 215. These contact points as shown arecircular and are provided with stems that are threaded to cooperate withthe nuts 26. As shown in Fig. 1 the contacts 24 and 25 are not, onlyspaced from each other but are so arranged that they will be engaged bythe curved end 16 of the arm B.

The base 5- is provided with suitablev holes so that the threaded studsof the contact pointsmay pass'therethrough. To cooperate with thecurvedends '17 with the arm B there is provided a segmental contactplate .27., This plate 27 is provided with a threaded stud 28: and isadapted to cooperate with a nut 29. As shown the segmental plate isarranged upon a longitudinal axis of the base 5and transversely.thereacross, so that when the arm B moves to contact with'the points 2%and 25 it will be maintained constantly in engagement with the curvedend 17. The curved end 18 of the arm C is adapted to engage with thespaced contacts 30 and 31 that are similarly located with reference tothe bolt A and the arm B. The contacts 30 and 31 are also provided withstuds that are threaded to. cooperate with the nuts 32, one of which isshown in Fig. 2.

To cooperate with the curved end 19, of the arm C, there is provided acontact plate 33 that is formed as a segment and this plate ence tothe-bolt A in a manner similar to that described for the plate 27. Asshown in Fig. 2, the recess 7 forms a convenient place for maintainingthe bolt and the several studs and their nuts out of contact withasupport. The several studs and their nuts are adapted to serve asterminals for the main circuit wires as well as the branch circuitwires.

As shown in Fig. 1 a conductor 36. connects with the contact point 25and with a motor 37. The other terminal of the: motor beingconnected bythe, conductor 38. with the contact point 21. The. contact point 24:,connects with the. lamp 39 by means of. the conductor 40.. The otherterminal. of the. lamp is connected with the contact. 30 by means ofthe. conductor 41. -The segmental plate 27 may be connected with the.source of electric energy D shown as a battery by means of the conductord2.

The other terminal of the batteryD connects with the plate 3.3 by meansof the conare indicated at l8, 4:9, 50, and 51. In employing the type ofarms, shown in Fig. l there would of course be required othercontactpoints and segmental plates so that a number of circuits might,be: controlled by the rotation of the knob 12 and its arms.

Reverting to Fig. 1 showing thev diagrammatic view of certain circuits;it will be noticed that when the switch arm B.- is' moved to engage withthe contact 25 its end 16 will then engage with said contact. Thisv willpermitcurrent to flow from the; battery D, through the conductor 42, theplate 27, the curved end 17 the, arm B, the curved portion 16, to theconductor 25. The current will then flow along the conductor 36, to themotor 37, thence through the conductor 38, back to the contact 25 as thecurved portion 18 rests on the contact 31, which will permit the currentto flow through the switch arm Cfthe curved portion 19, and thesegmental arm 33, thence through the, conductor 43. Thus one piece ofapparatus may be connected to the. contact points 24:, and 3-1. Tooperate the-lamp 39 the knob 13 is turned: in the reverse directionsothat the arm B. positions its curvedend 16 in engagement with thecontact point 24. At. this time. the arm 0 positions its curved end 18inengagement with the contact points 30.

The circuit may then be readily followed from the battery D through theconductor 12, through the segmental plate 37, to the curved portion 17,of the arm B, then passing to the contact point 24: through the curvedend 16. The lamp 39 being connected with the contact point 24. by meansof the conductor 40 and the other terminal of the lamp being connectedwith the contact point 30 by the conductor 41, current will then flowback to the battery by passing from the contact 30, through the curvedportion 18, of the arm C, thence through the curved portion 19, to thesegmental plate 33, and finally through the conductor 43, to the batteryD. Thus it will be seen that two or more independently connectedcircuits having different types of apparatus may be alternately, and atwill, connected with the main line or source of electric energy. As thearms carried by the knob 12 are preferably formed of resilient material,the contacts will be maintained bright so as not to interfere with theelectrical conductivity, when curved ends of the arms engage with thecontact point and the contact plates.

This will provide for a self cleaning and always provide a brightsurface promoting the conductivity of the circuit. It will be noticedthat there are no points about which dirt or dust might collect tointerfere with the operation of the device. The recess 7 formed in thebase forms a convenient point in which may be located the severalcircuit wires connecting with the studs passing through the base.

This recess 7 may, if desired, be filled with some insulating compoundsuch as is customary in this class of apparatus in order to protect theterminals from contacting and short circuiting.

The foregoing description and the drawings have reference to what may beconsidered the preferred, or approved, form of my invention. It is to beunderstood that I may make such changes in construction and arrangementand combination of parts, mate rials, dimensions, et cetera, as mayprove what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1.An electric switch, which comprises a base formed of insulatingmaterial, a rotatable member including a knob mounted on the base, aplurality of arms extending ra dially from recesses formed in the memberand provided with spaced curved ends forming contacts, each pair ofspaced contacts and the arm being insulated from another arm and itscontacts, a plurality of spaced contact points on the base and eachadapted to be engaged by one of the arm carried contacts, a plurality ofspaced segmental contact plates on the base and interposed be tween thecontact points and the rotatable.

member, and adapted to be continuously engaged by the other one of thearm carried contacts, means for rotatably securing the knob on the base,said means including a spacing and bearing block interposed between theknob and the upper surface of the base.

2. An electric switch, which comprises a base having contacts thereon, arotatable member on the base and provided with laterally extendingswitch arms, each of said arms being formed of a single strip ofresilient material bent to lie upon itself and the portions so formedbeing of unequal length and provided with curved ends serving as switchmembers to cooperate with the contacts, the folded inner ends of thearms being secured in recesses formed in the 'memher, and a spacingblock for the member, said block being rigidly secured on the base andserving to maintain the member away from the base.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CLIFFORD L. WHITE.

Witnesses:

. R. D. BURGESS, F. B. WHITE.

